West Papuan Political Prisoners

Papuans Behind Bars, launched in April 2013, is an online resource about political prisoners in West Papua. This site aims to raise awareness about Papuan political prisoners so that nobody is forgotten. Many of the prisoners have suffered arbitrary arrest, violence, abuse, torture, unfair trials, intimidation and neglect.

Papuans Behind Bars is a collective project initiated by Papuan civil society groups working together as the Civil Society Coalition to Uphold Law and Human Rights in Papua. It is a grassroots initiative and represents a broad collaboration between lawyers, human rights groups, adat groups, activists, journalists and individuals in West Papua, as well as Jakarta-based NGOs and international solidarity groups.

The site seeks to provide accurate and transparent data, published in English and Indonesian, to promote debate, campaigning and policy change in support of increasing democratic space in West Papua.

It includes comprehensive lists of current prisoners and former prisoners as well as monthly Updates on arrests, releases and trials. Detailed profiles of individual prisoners can be obtained by clicking on their entry in the prisoner lists or on their photo wherever it appears on the site. To learn more about about the data published by Papuans Behind Bars check About the Data.

More than 40 organisations in West Papua, Jakarta and worldwide have brought their analysis on the human rights and conflict situation in West Papua together. The executive summary of the 218-pages report explains how several human rights standards have deteriorated over the last two years. The report is compiled by the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) and the German Westpapua-Netzwerk (WPN).

Political activist, Oktovianus Warnares was convicted of “rebellion” (makar) in 2013 after peacefully commemorating the 50th anniversary of the handover of Papua to the Indonesian government. He is a prisoner of conscience and should be immediately and unconditionally released.